You're invited
The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
You will call out to nations
you have never known.
And they have never known you,
but they will come running
because I am the Lord,
the holy God of Israel,
and I have honored you. ~ Isaiah 55:5 (CEV)
People will come from everywhere -- from the east, the west, the north, and the south. They will all be seated to feast together at the table which is God’s kingdom. ~ Luke 13:29 (ABP)
KEY IDEA:
No matter where you're from or who your people are, you're invited to join the celebration -- which is the Kingdom of God.
PRAYER:
Lord, thank you for the invite. I plan on being there. But I need help in getting ready. I'm so slow to change -- so slow to embrace your kingdom values. I need more transformation. I'm trusting that you're going to be changing me -- even today as I go about your business. Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
NRSVue = New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (© 2021 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.) NTE = New Testament for Everyone (©2011 Nicolas Thomas Wright.)
REB = Revised English Bible (© 1989 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press) TCEB = The Casual English Bible (© Stephen M. Miller)